


Journey's End

by selstarry



Category: Sān guó yǎn yì | Romance of the Three Kingdoms - All Media Types, Sān guó | Three Kingdoms (TV 2010), Three Kingdoms History & Adaptations - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Flirting, Jingzhou Qin Challenge of 2012, M/M, Political Discourse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2013-04-28
Packaged: 2017-12-09 18:50:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selstarry/pseuds/selstarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Conversations on the night of the Battle of Red Cliffs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Journey's End

**Author's Note:**

> All my thanks to the IRC, for putting up with all my complaints and freak-outs; the Fish-and-Water group on dA, because I am aware that this fic is technically 4 1/2 months overdue; and Nazne, for being All of the Above and still patient enough to provide moral support and beta-ing.
> 
> This fic is somewhat AU because I was more chronologically and geographically challenged than I thought.

At the sending-off banquet, Liu Bei knows well his responsibilities as the host: give a few last words of encouragement to his generals before they ride off for Red Cliff; watch Zhang Fei’s wine intake; obey all rules of public propriety towards his triumphant, newly returned strategist. Yet, despite himself, he finds his gaze continually straying towards Kongming.

Zhuge Liang wears his new-gained experience visibly, in the sharper angles on his face and hands; when he half-turns, his profile has gained an almost aquiline quality. This subtle, formidable edge suits him, Liu Bei thinks. After his famed exploits in Wu, he can gain little advantage from playing the role of the ethereal hermit any longer. And if Liu Bei has more personal reasons for his appreciation, well, he keeps it to himself for now.

“Eldest Brother!” Zhang Fei’s voice snaps him out of his reverie. “If I can’t drink wine tonight, then at least you can drink my share for me!” He gestures towards Liu Bei’s cup. “You’ve barely touched that. Drink up, this wine is too good to waste!”

“It would be unreasonable of me to indulge when you and my other generals cannot,” Liu Bei demurs. “And Kongming and I have much to discuss after his absence; I fear he will not forgive me easily if I fail to keep sober tonight.”

“My lord overstates,” Zhuge Liang says, smiling delicately. “If my lord accepts the consequences of his actions, there is little I can, or will, say about the matter. It is a subordinate’s duty to conform to his lord’s decision and make the most of it, after all.”

“I assure you, that will not be necessary,” Liu Bei says quickly. Despite Zhang Fei’s glower, he barely manages to hide a returning smile.

 

The last generals ride off to their assigned stations, and the last servants are dismissed, leaving Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang alone in the hall.

“They say that business should come before pleasure,” Liu Bei says blandly.

Zhuge Liang raises an eyebrow in amusement. “Your enemies like to say that you feign virtue, but this is the first time I’m forced to wonder if they have a point.” He offers his arm to Liu Bei; he accepts with alacrity. “I believe my quarters are closer,” Zhuge Liang murmurs, leaning in.

Liu Bei cups the side of Zhuge Liang’s jaw with his free hand. “I’ve missed you,” he says, and he can feel the corner of Kongming’s mouth lift against his thumb, to mirror his own expression. “Lead the way, then.”

And so Kongming complies.

 

They do eventually talk of business that night, a shichen or two later.

The distance between Zhuge Liang’s quarters and the pier is barely far enough to qualify as a stroll, and this city has largely emptied of its soldiers and generals tonight. Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang make the walk without fear of eavesdroppers, or passersby to notice the disheveled robes under their winter cloaks.

Even from the pier, leagues away from the battle, the horizon blooms dull red with fire and smoke. “My commendations to the Grand Viceroy,” Zhuge Liang murmurs, eyes shining with reflected firelight. “All goes well, it seems.”

“I never doubted it,” Liu Bei says. The truth behind his words surprises him. He had not felt at all apprehensive, even with disastrous defeat fresh in his memory, even as he entrusted his fate to uncertain allies across the river whom he’d never met.

He reaches an arm across Kongming’s shoulders, tugging him closer. It had been a long time since he last had such faith in anything, he thinks, as Zhuge Liang reaches up to fold slim fingers around his hand.

The warmth of his skin still manages to surprise Liu Bei. When Kongming had first offered him his hand, on a bridge in the Xiangyang wilderness not so long ago, he’d half expected his touch be cold, like jade. He had not been prepared for the subtle warmth that lingered through four layers of fabric, even long after he had let go.

“Lu Su will visit us sometime tomorrow, I believe,” Zhuge Liang says. His qin-callused fingertips absently trace along Liu Bei’s hand, and its owner only manages to focus with supreme effort. “The timing could be... interesting.”

“Oh? What do you have planned?”

“No planning at all, not for this. It would ruin the point, I fear,” Zhuge Liang’s smile is fleeting. “Of course, our long-term danger remains.”

“Zhou Yu and his supporters.” Liu Bei resists the urge to pull Kongming closer. Zhuge Liang had omitted much of his encounters with Zhou Yu in his official dispatches, but even he couldn’t keep the stories from spreading across the river. “How much influence do they have in Wu’s court?”

“More than anyone else, certainly, after this victory. Of course, Sun Quan will try to keep any single faction in his court from gaining too much power, and Lu Su, at least, sees the necessity of maintaining our alliance even after the immediate danger passes. But I’ve seen enough of Zhou Yu’s character to understand that opposition will only harden his resolve.”

“Surely he sees that Wu has more to lose than gain if the alliance falls apart?” Liu Bei inquires. “Wei will not be so weakened that it can’t seek the fisherman’s advantage if it sees us infighting.”

“But we have just as much to lose, if not more, if the alliance fails. In Zhou Yu’s eyes, that may be worth the cost.”

“A subordinate blinded by emotion is limited in his power as long as his ruler isn’t similarly blinded,” Liu Bei says; through experience, he understands how lords think as clearly as Kongming understands how advisors think. “Sun Quan is young, but he’s shown himself to be sound enough of judgment so far. I do not think he will undo his own alliance, even if...”

Suddenly, Liu Bei realizes that Zhuge Liang has turned to look at him. “Yes,” he says softly, his eyes as dark and unfathomable as the space between stars. “Yes, I suppose that, at least, is true.” He doesn’t seem to be speaking just of Sun Quan. For the first time this evening, Liu Bei notices the chill of the winter air.

A heartbeat passes, two, three. Then something in Zhuge Liang’s expression shifts, almost undetectably. He closes the distance between them, and determinedly kisses Liu Bei, and whatever words hovered unsaid between them fade like frost before fire.

Liu Bei will only recall their conversation many, many years after. By then, of course, it’s too late.


End file.
